The Reel World

In 1996 when Scream first came out, it’s hard to explain to this new generation of teens just how much it changed the genre and the film industry. To say the horror genre was dead is an understatement. Sure, the early 90’s had a handful of good films, but when you look at where the genre was in the 80’s and earlier, you can see the difference. Then when you look at how the genre has evolved since the first film premiered, what Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven did has been emulated but not quite surpassed. Even with the three sequels that followed, they had the same spirit but just not quite as good. Sure, better horror films have come along in the 25 years since, and several have changed the genre for better or worse. We’ve seen horror go with the intense hyper realism and the re-boot which Scream 4 (2011) took its meta take on, but where could the series go next?
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I wanted to believe that it was possible. I really did. I wanted to believe that it was possible to make a quality addition to the iconic franchise despite nearly twenty years having gone by since the third film. But alas, here we are and it clearly wasn’t possible to make a quality addition to the franchise. I should have trusted my instincts. While the The Matrix: Resurrections may provide us with answer regarding the ultimate fate of Neo and Trinity, those answers come at the cost of entertainment. I am a firm believer in letting sleeping dogs lie, and I can honestly say that this franchise would have been better off without this latest installment, which in my opinion adds nothing to it. I’m honestly shocked at the fact of how disappointed I was with the film given that two-thirds of the main cast came back for the film. Trust me, we are also going to discuss the one-third that didn’t and the dishonorable way that they chose to continue the character.
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This is an origin story. That is the best way I can sum this movie up. I will repeat it again, so it is clear. This is an origin story. It was hinted at in the first film (Kingsman) how the Kingman intelligence agency was started; however, while it was excellently explained by Colin Firth, how the agency truly came to be was just sort of glossed over. With The King’s Man we get to experience the tale of the organization’s founder and his motivation for creating the organization. The story is informative and at times entertaining, but I must confess that it was missing the wit that the original film had. I would have to characterize this as a case of the original film being the best. In this instance, it is because of the wit and the manner in which the story flowed. I know what you are thinking, I’m disregarding the second film, and you are right; I am.
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“If you expect disappointment, you will never be disappointed.”

That’s the trouble with sequels. The filmmakers feel this great responsibility to give us more than they’ve given us before with no thought to the idea that more is often less. There has never been a truly great comic book hero film that had extra villains. It just doesn’t work. You can’t give enough time and back story to everybody, so you have to cheat somewhere and cut a few corners. Those corners are things like characterization and heart. But what if you could? I mean, seriously. What if it were possible to do a multi-villain comic book movie that was really good? Until just now, I would have thought it was impossible. But isn’t that what the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has been doing for over 20 years now?
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“Step right up and behold one of the unexplained mysteries of the universe! Is he a man or beast? This creature has been examined by the foremost scientists and pronounced, unequivocally, a man. I am prepared to offer you folks one last chance to witness this supreme oddity. Where did it come from? Begotten by the same and threat that got us all walking on this earth, but gone wrong somehow in maternal womb. Not fit for living. Is it a beast, or is it a man?” 

Guillermo del Toro knows how to deliver atmosphere. His love for the horror films of the 1930’s shows in his use of shadows and lighting to build a world that’s always uniquely belonging to each of his films. He makes these worlds a thing unto themselves while leaving all the familiar markers that keep his worlds from appearing too alien.
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You could say that West Side Story goes back to 1957 with the iconic collaboration of composer Leonard Bernstein and the very recently deceased lyricist Stephen Sondheim. But that isn’t exactly true. The play was a modern retelling of William Shakespeare’s equally iconic Romeo And Juliet. Instead of Capulets and Montagues, we have street gangs from 1950’s New York City. All of the beats are there and then some. The legendary Robert Wise adapted the play as a film in 1961, which has deservedly gone on to classic status. And there it all sits for 60 years outside of the expected revivals and local productions of the work. Along comes Steven Spielberg who wanted to create a film as homage to his father.
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“It was a name that sounded so sweet … Synonymous with wealth, style, power. But that name was a curse, too.”

If you’ve ever seen me show up for a movie screening in my sweats and t -shirt, you will know instantly that I’m not going to ever be confused with a person of high fashion. I dress for comfort, and accessorizing usually means I’ve got shoes and socks on. The jargon of the industry is Greek to me, and I guess sometimes it really is. I’ve certainly heard of Gucci, but the extent of that knowledge is along the lines of those famous patterned bags that they sell on the street downtown for $20 with no questions asked. Of course those bags often appear to have misspelled the name, so I know a few folks walking around with a Gutchi on their arm and a Rolax on their wrist. I’m guessing that’s not exactly dressed for fashion. Ridley Scott rides to the rescue. I still can’t tell the bags apart, but I now know a little bit about the famous family that those guys are ripping off.
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Good story, unique characters, and original music. I’d say that Disney delivers on its 60^th animated movie. In recent years, Disney has taken us all over the map as they introduced characters (formerly known as Disney princesses) from all different walks of life. From a Norwegian-inspired kingdom (Arendelle) to the Polynesian island (Motunui), this time taking us to the mountains of Colombia. That has always been something that I appreciated about Disney’s film: their wide-reaching landscape. It’s like the cinematic version of Epcot. Another thing I’m grateful about this film is the fact that I was about to make it a family affair, as my wife and daughter joined me for this experience. It’s been a while since we’ve had a film where we could seek the Nalyce stamp of approval, and now we finally have a candidate. Bottom line up front: it did get her stamp of approval, as well as mine.
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“Venus Williams is going to be the number 1 tennis player in the world. Absolutely. But you are going to be greatest of all time.”

He was a man with a plan. A 78-page plan, if you want to be exact. We’ve heard the story of Venus and Serena Williams, two sisters from Compton who went on to become two of the greatest tennis stars in the world. Now we will learn the story of the man behind the two tennis legends. Their father, Richard Williams, or as the title says, King Richard. But who could we trust to properly represent the story, and more importantly, who could embody the man? A man who is rapidly becoming a legend in his own domain. In fact, his name and legacy were recently solidified on a soundstage at the Tyler Perry Studio in Atlanta: Will Smith. Now, Will Smith is not a character to be disregarded.
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“So now that Captain Rogers and Iron Man are both gone, who do you think’s gonna lead the Avengers?”

After over a decade of ruling the feature film comic book universe, I have to ask the question that no one really wants to ask or answer. A lot of things have happened in the real world since the release of the two-part Avengers coda to the last phase of films. In over 22 films, there were only a couple I would have called sub-par and less I would have called stinkers. That hasn’t been the case with the start of the post-pandemic Marvel Cinematic Universe. It started with Black Widow, which I have argued doesn’t belong here. It works as the third film in a trilogy that includes the last two Captain America films. It has the same feel and much of the same style. I liked it but felt it was horribly mistimed. Things being what they are, that might be expected. Then came along Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, which brought an interesting new dynamic to the MCU but still fell somewhat flat with fans.
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“Can anyone give me an example of a myth or a story They’re afraid of?”

Look at every element of Searchlight’s new horror film Antlers and you see nothing but the promise of an extraordinary horror film. Guillermo del Toro is one of the producers and he’s got a reputation for building some of the best horror atmosphere you’ll ever see. He’s one of those visual geniuses that has been inspired by the black & white classics of the genre and his imagination is truly amazing. The film is based on Nick Antosca’s short story The Quiet Boy which itself has some pretty incredible imagery. The film also sports a pretty sweet cast starting with Keri Russell known for the Cold War series The Americans. There’s Jesse Plemons who blew me away on Friday Night Lights and hasn’t disappointed yet. Young Jeremy T. Thomas has a pretty good career if his performance here is any indication of what he can do. The kid does one of the best deadpans I’ve seen since Christina Ricci’s wonderful Wednesday Addams. The British Columbia locations are truly stunning. This looks like a truly great film. And it’s certainly not a bad film. But it’s far from great. It’s an okay film and often that would be fine with me. I enjoy an average horror film as much as the next guy. The trouble is this should have been great and that’s a huge disappointment.
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“A great man doesn’t seek to lead, he’s called to it. But if your answer is no, you’ll still be the only thing I need you to be. My son.”

Given that this was most likely the most anticipated movie of 2020, I must say that I expected much more from it. Especially given the who’s who list of Hollywood stars who were brought together for this production. Names like Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, and the list goes on. I suppose another thing that somewhat worked against the film was the long wait, as this was a movie that was slated for a year earlier, and then the pandemic complicated that, so anticipation for this film was high. Not to mention that this is a reboot of a beloved series that has already been adapted and garnered a large cult following. It is also my understanding that previous adaptation had the benefit of having the creator of the franchise on set to help guide it. That sounds like a recipe for success, if you ask me.
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Totally immersive, the movie The Last Duel takes you into 14^th century France where it deals with wars, the plague, and an economical decline for the kingdom.  Entwined, during that period, is a true story of misogyny, a power struggle, and a rivalry between squires. Powerful acting, direction, and cinematography deliver a compelling story that makes the two and a half hours fly by. In the 1300’s Europe has been wrecked with war and plague, and France has had a good share of the death and destruction. As the story begins, find notable squire and knight Sir Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) returning to his castle from a vicious battle in defense of his king. Having lost his wife to the plague, he marries Lady Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer), the daughter of a landowner with a vast amount of territory.
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“Michael Myers has haunted this town for 40 years … Tonight we hunt him down.”

In 2018 when Halloween came out, I have to admit I was disappointed. Maybe I just had such high hopes, or the film just simply didn’t offer up anything fresh to the series as I had hoped. Sure, it had its moments, like the long tracking shot of Michael doing what he does best and leaving a trail of bodies behind, but aside from that, I felt it was a relatively forgettable entry. I love the original film. What John Carpenter did scared me as a child and still excites me after numerous viewings. Halloween II is a fun watch that I continue to enjoy. And for a more controversial take, I’m even a fan of Rob Zombie’s Halloween. I liked the time spent with a young Michael Myers, and I look at the film as basically a southern re-telling of the Boogeyman. The franchise is hit or miss, and the numerous timelines do complicate the lore, so I was more than a little skeptical about Halloween Kills and it being the middle of David Gordon Green’s trilogy.
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“As long as we are looking over our shoulder, the past is not dead.”

When it comes to Daniel Craig’s Bond movies, I’ve found them to be hit or miss. There are those I love, such as Casino Royale and Skyfall, and then there are those that I wasn’t that into, such as Quantum of Solace and Spectre. However, when it comes to No Time to Die, there is no question that it is my favorite of all the Craig-led Bond movies. Maybe it was how long I’ve been waiting to experience it given that the onset of COVID resulted in the film’s release being delayed multiple times, so by the time it was finally here, I could barely contain my excitement. However, I think it is more likely that the reason is the knowledge that this will be Craig’s final portrayal as the suave secret agent with a penchant for shaken martinis. Either way, Craig’s swan song film was without question great, despite certain elements not delivering on the hype. Craig leaves the franchise with is head held high, as I cannot imagine a more dignified exit for his portrayal.
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In 1999 when The Sopranos first premiered on HBO, I don’t think anyone was expecting just how much it would change the television landscape. In its run it made cable TV a main contender for the Emmys, but it also changed the way we see TV, as it took the gangster movie dynamic and stretched it out into a series that ran successfully for 86 episodes. Then there was the way the series came to a close that has had fans and critics talking nearly 15 years after it last aired. It’s the show that raised the bar for what television can be and has been the standard since which only a handful of shows have been able to match in quality. Personally (and I know this is a controversial take) I’m only a fan of the first three seasons, but even a bad episode of The Sopranos is better than most television shows out there. There was talk for a while about spin-off shows and possible movies. This kind of talk would of course get fans excited, but the question always was, where can you go with the story? Then in 2013 when James Gandolfini died, it seemed like any possible revival was squashed.
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“That was a long time ago, wasn’t it?”

Everyone has one. There is that shirt in your closet. Or maybe it’s a pair of pants, socks, or even shoes. Whatever it is, it should have been thrown out decades ago. There could be holes, and it’s certainly so threadbare that you could do the New York Times crossword through the fabric. It’s not practical, if it ever even was. If it were any other piece of clothing you’d be embarrassed to be wearing it. But the dang thing is so comfortable. It’s soft against your skin, or maybe it brings back one of your favorite memories. Whatever the reason, you love that thing, and you wish you could wear it all the time. That’s exactly how some of us feel about Clint Eastwood. I was a teen in high school when he asked us if we felt lucky and begged us to make his day. A lot of years and a lot of movies have come and gone since then. Clint doesn’t have the abilities to run around shooting up the joint anymore.
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As fans of the MCU, I think it’s safe to say we’ve all been anxiously waiting to see what Phase 4 would be bringing us. In a lot of ways this is the new era of Marvel characters and a new story arc that will be kicking off since Endgame seemed to wrap things up.  Disney Plus as been teasing fans and tiding us over with Wandavision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and then Loki. On the cinematic front we had the long delayed Black Widow, but considering that film took place in a pre-snap timeline, the question remained, what was next for the Avengers?  With Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, we finally get that answer, and as exciting as that is, I have to admit I’m a little worried. I’m not saying it’s time to abandon ship, because I’ll be upfront and say I enjoyed Shang-Chi, but the Disney influence  is starting to rear its head, and I’m a little concerned for how much influence studio heads are having over the product and how much control is being taken away from the creative heads, i.e. the writers and directors.
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From Bride of Frankenstein to Night of the Living Dead and even Godzilla, horror has been a platform filmmakers have used for decades to handle larger societal issues. In 1992 when the first Candyman released, it was a film that tackled issues of class and race, but it did so in a manner that didn’t feel forced, and in doing so it added an extra level to what I’d consider one of the best horror films of the 90’s. I love the story of Candyman, and the performance Tony Todd gave this tragic character was an equal blend of horror, menace, and sympathy. The way the first film builds its impending doom for Helen Lyle has rarely  been matched in films since. Watching as her life crumbles around her up until the moment she finally surrenders herself to Candyman and accepts her awful fate is an impactful moment. The sequels just never lived up to the first film, and it’s a shame, because I simply loved the idea of this modern urban legend that haunted the projects of Black America.
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“We all have secrets.”

Right from the jump there’s a lot to like about The Night House, directed by David Bruckner and starring Rebecca Hall. It’s the kind of horror film that derives its scares from the point of emotional loss that cuts to the center of the kinds of things that really scare us all. From that point the film immerses us deep into the kind of atmosphere that doesn’t come from gory special effects or even some of the nicely placed jump scenes. Instead Bruckner engineers his cinematography to play slight tricks on our eyes that immediately reveal some clever usages of the film’s set designs and an Escheresque distortion of our point of view. It’s the kind of film that demands you pay very strict attention and then rewards you for the effort. Sounds like a great movie, yeah? Unfortunately, the screenplay, written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, who both penned the now shooting Hellraiser reboot/sequel, is the glaring weak link that caused me to leave the theater repeating, “I almost loved it.”
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“The past can haunt a man.  That’s what they say. But the past is just a series of moments. Perfect … .complete … a bead on the necklace of time.”

So, an interesting factoid that I learned about the film’s director Lisa Joy: she is the sister-in-law of director Christopher Nolan. This doesn’t really add anything to the review, just an interesting fact that I thought I’d share. Then again, I do remember thinking when the film first opened up that it felt very shades-of-Nolan. Not to say that Nolan had any influence over the film, but just the idea of a movie based off a construct is very much in his wheelhouse. Memory is the construct that is explored in this film, and I must admit that the addictive nature in which the film portrays this construct did have some appeal; however, the film tries to bring too many different themes and elements together, and it results in not enough attention being paid to any of them. Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson are the film’s big draws, and while their electricity helps to make the film decent, it cannot make it great.
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“I know this world is just a game, but this place, these people, that’s all I have. So I’m not gonna be the good guy. I’m gonna be a great guy.” 

Free Guy is the love letter to video gamers of all ages that Ready Player One should have been. While Ready Player One spent most of its resources on spectacle and a rather convoluted mythology, Free Guy allows the heart to come from the characters and plays out as something much closer to the passion and attachment players have long felt for their favorite games and game characters. The film manages to do this without giving up on the spectacle. There’s plenty of that computer-generated magic here, enough to immerse us in the AI world of the game.
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It doesn’t seem all that long ago that Disney/Marvel decided to fire James Gunn over a couple of tweets and Warner Brothers decided to scoop up the talented director to helm a reboot of The Suicide Squad. Personally, I feel this was the best move WB has done with their DC film projects since the Christopher Nolan Batman films. I’ll come out and say it: I haven’t been a fan of the DC cinematic universe. Wonder Woman and Shazam were decent, but they simply don’t hold up to what Marvel has been able to produce. While I’m fine with attempting to tell more mature storylines and appeal to an older audience, my biggest problem with the DC films is that they just weren’t fun (Shazam is perhaps the only exception to this). I’m not part of the “Release the Snyder cut” crowd; instead I just want to see a comic book film that can be entertaining and not take itself too seriously, and that brings me back to James Gunn. I’m a fan of Gunn. I absolutely adore what he’s done with The Guardians of the Galaxy, those are both in my top 5 of the Marvel films, because I love how he handles the group of misfit heroes.
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Going all the way back to 2003 when Disney released The Haunted Mansion and The Pirates of the Caribbean, it seemed like the natural progression would be to release a film based on the theme parks Jungle Cruise ride. With the success of the Johnny Depp-helmed films, Disney instead elected to crank out more Pirates of the Caribbean films. Sure, the original trilogy was fun, but the two that followed were forgettable messes.  Now it’s 2021, and we’ve finally gotten a Jungle Cruise film helmed by one of the biggest stars in cinema, Dwayne (don’t call me The Rock) Johnson and Emily Blunt sharing top billing credit. The trailers teased a film that was in the vein of the Indiana Jones films, something I believe could be a good thing. What was somewhat expected was the added layer of a supernatural element put into the film. While I was excited about the supporting cast and even the director that came aboard to helm the film, the one thing that bothered me was how long it’s been since I’ve actually enjoyed a live-action Disney film.
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I guess you could say I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with M. Night Shyamalan movies. There are some that I really enjoy (i.e. The Sixth Sense, The Village, The Unbreakable Trilogy) and then there are those I’m just not fond of (i.e. The Last Airbender, After Earth, The Happening). When it comes to his new film, Old, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the film. There are several elements that I enjoyed, such as the premise, certain characters and their actors’ performances, but then in some instances the story felt underdeveloped, and certain actors were typecast. All in all, as the credits rolled I found myself with mixed feelings about what I’d just seen, and now with time to reflect, I’m still not a hundred percent sure how I feel about the film.
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